ECM has invited its roster of artists to personally select the tracklists for individual retrospectives as part of the ":rarum" series, which bows today (May 21) with anthologies from Keith Jarrett, Jan Garbarek, Chick Corea, Gary Burton, Bill Frisell, the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Terje Rypdal, and Bobo Stenson. The material was digitally remastered and each release comes housed in a digipak with liner notes by the artist and rare photos.

In the liner notes for his double-disc set, Jarrett says he hoped to "direct the listener's attention to recordings that either have been, in my opinion, heard less than I feel is their due, or have escaped recent (and younger fans') awareness." His album is highlighted by the CD debut of the conclusion of a 1981 solo piano concert in Munich, snippets from concerts in Tokyo and Bregenz, Austria, organ and clavichord improvisations, and ensemble work with such players as drummer Jack DeJohnette and Garbarek.

Corea's set focuses on his more jazz-oriented work with Return To Forever and other ensembles, although a collection of chamber music will make up a future ":rarum" collection. Garbarek divides one disc each between recordings as a leader and as part of an ensemble, while Frisell even included the Gavin Bryars Ensemble's "Sub Rosa," a track on which he does not perform but for which he is credited as an inspiration.

The next round of ":rarum" albums arrives in August, with anthologies from Pat Metheny, David Darling, Dave Holland, and Carla Bley, among others. Sets by Charles Lloyd, Charlie Haden, DeJohnette, and more are scheduled for 2003.